xvi, 268 p. : 23 cm

"An insider traces the details of hope and ambition gone wrong in the Giant of Africa, Nigeria, Africa's most populous country. When it gained independence from Britain in 1960, hopes were high that, with mineral wealth and over 140 million people, the most educated workforce in Africa, Nigeria would become Africa s first superpower and a stabilizing democratic influence in the region. However, these lofty hopes were soon dashed and the country lumbered from crisis to crisis, with the democratic government eventually being overthrown in a violent military coup in January 1966. From 1966 until 1999, the army held onto power almost uninterrupted under a succession of increasingly authoritarian military governments and army coups. Military coups and military rule (which began as an emergency aberration) became a seemingly permanent feature of Nigerian politics. The author names names, and explores how British influence aggravated indigenous rivalries. He shows how various factions in the military were able to hold onto power and resist civil and international pressure for democratic governance by exploiting the country's oil wealth and ethnic divisions to its advantage."--Publisher's description

Includes bibliographical references (p. 257-262) and index

The pre-coup days: politics and crisis -- The Nigerian army: the way things were -- Soldiers and politics -- Enter "the five majors" -- From civilian to military rule: history in the making -- A new type of government -- The army implodes -- The July rematch -- Mutineers in power -- The killing continues -- Legacy of the 1966 coups -- Aburi: the "Sovereign National Conference" that got away -- Murtala Muhammed: human tempest -- The post war years: civil and military discontent -- Another army plot: another military government -- Friday the 13th: the watershed coup of 1976 -- Crime and punishment

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